West Coast, Messed Coast™: Welcome to the Dumb Idea Factory!

PJ Media ^ | March 4, 2023 | VICTORIA TAFT

[lowbridge]

This is a compendium of some worst ideas coming from the California, Oregon, and Washington state legislatures this silly season. Indeed, it is the best argument for part-time legislatures if ever there was one.

Bored with their constitutionally-tethered jobs: public safety, natural resources, water, lights, prisons, highways, law and order, and higher education, etc.; the state legislators on the West Coast, Messed Coast™ are working days and nights (unlike the DOJ), finding new ways to burrow into areas of your life where they are not wanted.

California currently is the only one of the three West Coast, Messed Coast™ states with a full-time legislature, but the others have been moving in that direction for a very long time thinking that somehow the poor citizenry couldn’t possibly survive without their benevolent dictates. Your West Coast, Messed Coast™ correspondent begs to differ. Bring back citizen legislatures!

While shortening the sessions of West Coast, Messed Coast™ legislatures is a must, so is clawing back the ceded power of state agencies in making rules that have the force of law.

Hiding the sausage-making at the dumb idea factory

We start at the northwest corner of the country in Washington State. Democrats in Olympia are using the people’s power and money to hide their chicanery from the voters. Literally.

Legislative leaders (Democrats) are once again using their raw power to illegally exclude themselves from public records laws. Each time this issue has been litigated (using the people’s money), efforts to hide documents and records have been slapped down by the courts, including the state Supreme Court.

But lawmakers do it anyway.

To wit, powerful legislators have now begun heavily redacting documents using “legislative privilege” as an excuse. “Where is this “legislative privilege” in the law?” asks the Seattle Times. “Nowhere.”

[hanamizu]

“Where is this “legislative privilege” in the law?” asks the Seattle Times. “Nowhere.”

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Well, there is that ‘separation of powers’ thing, giving the three branches only limited power to influence the others. If the legislature votes to exclude itself from ‘public records laws’ it should be able to do so, unless the public records laws are part of the state constitution. If the public and the Seattle Times don’t like it, vote the rascals out.

[The Old Hoosier]

Yeah, I don’t really understand this objection. It’s in the U.S. Constitution for Congress, and it has been in the precedent of the British Parliament for more than 500 years. I don’t see why legislative immunity couldn’t apply to the Wash. legislature, as terrible as they are.

[citizen]

Your comments do not mean the issue should not be on newspaper front pages & lead news broadcasts, complete with such info that can be dug out/surmized that inicates political chicanery.

[citizen]

*indicates

[hanamizu]

I didn’t mean that the issue should not be on front pages, only that the question posed by the Seattle Times, “Where is this “legislative privilege” in the law?” asks the Seattle Times. “Nowhere.” is not quite accurate.

[Twotone]

If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.